Animals In PrintThe On-Line Newsletter20 November 2010 Issue

EU To Back Sale Of Meat And Milk From Cloned Animal Offspring
By Sean Poulter

The sale of meat and milk from the offspring of cloned farm animals is
set to be backed by EU Commissioners despite mass consumer opposition.

A huge majority of the public is against clone animal farming, according
to studies in Britain and across Europe.

Concerns surround the ethics of the process, the welfare of the animals
and a lack of research on food safety. However, a leaked report to be
discussed by the EU’s College of Commissioners today comes out in favour of
food from the offspring of clones.

A new report suggests that the offspring of cloned animals could be
consumed

Alarmingly, it appears this food would not have to be labeled, leaving
families completely in the dark about what they are putting in their mouths.

Specifically, the report proposes a temporary five-year ban on the sale
of meat and milk from clones, but there would be no ban on food from their
offspring.

If this policy is adopted, European farms could be populated by cloned
super-size animals used as breeding stock for cows, pigs and sheep that are
reared for food.

Clones themselves can suffer a range of painful conditions, including
malformed organs and gigantism. Many die in the womb or soon after birth.

More... End of the sticky label: Lasers to etch sell-by dates and price
onto fruit The secret to living longer: It's all down to the right mix of
healthy foods and NOT diets But the Commission and the Government take the
view that meat and milk from the offspring of a clone is effectively normal
and therefore no ban or labeling is required.

The Daily Mail revealed in the summer that more than 100 cattle –pedigree
Holstein milking cows – which are the offspring of clones are being raised
on British farms.

We also revealed how meat from two clone-offspring bulls and one veal
calf had been sold in butcher shops in Scotland, North-East England, London
and Belgium.

The Food Standards Agency has made clear it believes it is illegal to
sell meat and milk from these sources without first getting its approval.

Food and farming minister Caroline Spelman supports the move to force
meat and milk from clone offspring into supermarkets.

The idea that the European Commission and the Government are putting the
interest of high-tech clone farmers over the concerns of consumers and
animal welfare has angered critics.

What's in your shopping bag? The Daily Mail revealed how meat from two
clone-offspring bulls and one veal calf had been sold in butcher shops in
Scotland, North-East England, London and Belgium

The attitude has echoes of the BSE crisis and the way biotech firms tried
to force GM food into the national diet.

A 2008 EU study found consumers across Europe are unhappy at this new era
of ‘Frankenstein food’ farming.

Eighty-seven per cent of Britons said too little is known about the
long-term health and safety effects of eating food from these animals.

A separate study for the FSA found that the more consumers learned about
cloning, the greater were the objections. The vast majority saidfood derived
from these animals should be labeled.

Even if the Commissioners and the Government back the sale of food from
clone offspring, this is not final. MEPs and other, more sceptical, nations
could try to block the policy.